Once we were both breathing pretty hard, I sat back watching her play with the ring. “I’m curious,” I said after a long minute. She raised her eyebrows. “What exactly was your pageant talent?”
The corners of her lips tugged up, much-needed color flooding her cheeks. “Since I’d been practicing with computers for a while, and by then I hated everything pageant, I was going to hack the judges’ emails on stage and read them off to the crowd.”
I belted out a laugh. This woman owned me. “Fuck, I love you, Chloe.”
She beamed. “And I love you, Kai.”
We talked a bit more, her telling me about what happened, how he had shown up at her new job—one she probably lost for not showing up the last two days—how her parents insisted she marry him.
My blood boiled. Fucking sick people trying to force her into a marriage when she was pregnant with my babies.
Then she told me what she’d planned when she thought I wasn’t coming. How she was going to destroy them from within. My heart about exploded with adoration for her. She left out the part about the doctor, which only confirmed my suspicions. She didn’t mention anything about what they thought of the twins, for which I was grateful. I didn’t want to go back there and murder all of them.
We both got a little sleep, but the nurses came in often to check on Chloe and the babies. I passed out pretty hard in the chair around dawn. I thought I was dreaming of someone knocking on a door until Chloe snarled, “What are you doing here?”
My eyes snapped open to see her parents, looking fancy as ever, standing in the doorway. They wore lifeless masks as they took in the whole room, giving me a pretty apprehensive look. They had no idea what I was capable of on top of what they’d witnessed, no clue the ways I knew how to make a man bleed.
“We came to make sure you’re okay,” her stuffy mom answered.
Without any humor, I snorted, standing from my chair.
Her dad’s eyes grew wide. “We do care about our daughter,” he told me, his tone even. But that was all he would say, because he’d seen what I did to that shithead.
“That’s hard to see,” I told him in as even a tone as I could muster, “when you sold your daughter off to some dick who abused her.”
“We didn’t know,” her mom snapped at me, losing her grip on the careless mask.
Chloe’s face drained of color. “You knew exactly who he and his father were.”
Her mom’s lips thinned.
“Why are you here?” I pressed.
She raised her eyebrows at me. “You should be grateful the Roches decided not to press charges.”
I chuckled darkly.
“This is no joke,” her dad snapped.
Baring my teeth, I tilted my head. “Isn’t it?” I asked, calm, cool. Inside, I was raging. Chloe reached for my hand and I took hers, letting her tether me there. Her mom’s nostrils flared, her dad looking like he wanted to flee. Smart guy. “Of course no one will be pressing charges. You wouldn’t want the bad press. Especially when it gets out that you tried to get a doctor to abort my twenty-six-week-old twins. Or the fact that their dick son kidnapped my fiancée.”
Their eyes shifted to the ring on her hand, both glaring at her finger.
“I did no such thing,” her mom faux gasped.
My face went slack. “Funny. Dr. Francis seemed to think otherwise.” Her and her husband’s faces drained of blood. “So I’m gonna tell you nicely only this once.” Chloe squeezed my hand. She was allowing me to fight this battle for her, even though we both knew she could handle this on her own. But she was giving up that control, leaning on me. I felt a thousand feet tall. “Stay away from Chloe, my twins, and me, or you will regret it.” And I wouldn't be the one raining hell down on them—it would be their genius daughter.
“You would dare threaten us?” Mrs. Dumont scoffed, showing me exactly who wore the pants in their marriage. With a lift of her chin, she said, “I don’t think you realize who we are.”
Another snort from me, joined by one from Chloe, who added an eye roll.
“I don’t give two shits who you are, and I sure as hell dare threaten you. I had to bring your daughter to the hospital from that freak show last night due to dehydration and being on the verge of delivering our twins three months early because you had that prick take your daughter from her home without her medication.”
“I suggest you both leave and don’t come back. Don’t try to find me. Ever,” Chloe told them, her tone firm, unyielding. My warrior queen.
“Fine,” her mom snapped. “But don't you expect one fraction of your inheritance.”
“Ha!” She scoffed. I beamed at her. “I wouldn’t take a piece of that if there was a gun held to my head. Now please leave. If you one day decide to apologize for the hell you put me through, I will consider accepting.”
Her mom sneered, but her dad’s brow creased before his wife barked, “Gerard,” from the door. With one last confused look at Chloe and her belly, he followed his wife out.
Chloe released a breath, her shoulders slumping. I leaned down, kissing her, reveling in this beautiful woman. When I pulled back, she smiled up at me, giggling. The sound warmed my soul. “I’ve been wanting to do that for ages.” She giggled again. “Now, let’s hope that’s the last of the drama for a very, very long time.”
“Agreed, toots.”
Though we still had shit to figure out, I had high hopes we would do so before I had to be back on duty. We were engaged, we were having twins, and we would be together in the fall. And I could love her for the rest of time.
20
Chloe
Later in the afternoon, they released me, but I
